STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1703

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.C.R. No. 162

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Water and Land and Housing, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 162 entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE OFFICE OF PLANNING AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT TO CONVENE A MULTIAGENCY WORKING GROUP TO IDENTIFY SITES THAT HAVE THE COLLECTIVE CAPACITY TO ACCOMMODATE TEN THOUSAND NEW HOMES PER YEAR, FOR THE NEXT FIFTY YEARS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to request the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development to convene a multiagency working group to identify sites that have the collective capacity to accommodate ten thousand new homes per year, for the next fifty years.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation, Hawaii Community Development Authority, and two individuals. Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from three individuals. Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development.

Your Committees find that the State is experiencing an acute housing shortage and that, according to the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism, the State will need approximately twenty-six thousand to forty-seven thousand new housing units before 2030 to meet critical housing demands. Your Committees also find that multiple state agencies are responsible for housing development in the State, and therefore a multiagency approach is essential to coordinate efforts and implement strategies to address the State's housing shortage. Your Committees recognize that the Hawaii State Planning Act (codified as chapter 226, Hawaii Revised Statutes) establishes a system for planning and multiagency coordination to increase the effectiveness of government and that, under the Act, the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development is charged with providing technical assistance to help administer the Act.

Your Committees further find that, under the Act, the State has outlined its objectives and policies relating to housing, which include, "to secure reasonably priced, safe, sanitary, livable homes located in suitable environments that satisfactorily accommodate the needs and desires of families and individuals". This measure requests the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development to convene a multiagency working group to identify sites with the capacity to accommodate the additional housing necessary to ensure that the people of Hawaii will have access to safe, sanitary, and affordable places to live. Your Committees recognize that the Governor recently created the cabinet position of Chief Housing Officer to advise the Governor on policies for affordable housing and to develop, drive, and implement the Governor's housing initiatives and strategies for the State. Accordingly, your Committees believe that the Chief Housing Officer should be a member of the multiagency work group created by this measure.

Therefore, your Committees have amended this measure by adding language requesting that the Governor's Chief Housing Officer be a member of the multiagency working group.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Water and Land and Housing that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 162, as amended herein, and recommend its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 162, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Water and Land and Housing,

________________________________ STANLEY CHANG, Chair

________________________________ LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair